Police arrest 11 amid pension reform protests in France

PARIS/ANKARA

Eleven protesters were arrested Saturday in Rennes as tension remains high in France concerning controversial pension reforms.

Nearly 1,500 people gathered at the Rennes center to protest the government's controversial reforms.

Police used tear gas on protesters after a clash in which some cars and waste containers were set on fire, according to media reports.

Authorities said a gendarmerie officer was injured.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the government is determined to accelerate other reforms.

The controversial pension reform plan was signed and officially promulgated Saturday in the Official Journal.

President Emmanuel Macron signed the bill after the Constitutional Council finished its review late Friday despite demands by trade unions to drop the measure that has drawn weeks of protests.

The nine "sages," as they are known in France, partially approved the bill while rejecting six of its measures, including regarding senior workers.

The bill includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, with workers and trade unions, among others, vehemently opposing the plan.

The government unveiled the reform proposal in January and it was taken up for parliamentary debate the following month even as millions took to the streets to oppose it.

Unrest intensified when Borne, after consulting with Macron, decided to use special constitutional powers to adopt the bill without parliamentary approval in March.

The decision was driven by fear that lawmakers would be able to block the reforms as the government lacks an absolute majority in the legislature.